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Archive for the 'Homes for Sale' Category

If you’re a home seller on the fence, you had better SEIZE THE MOMENT!

Talk to any busy Realtor in our Auburn, CA, or anywhere in Placer County for that matter, and you will no doubt hear that houses are selling over asking price, and with multiple offers.

Properties in Placer County are being listed and bombarded with multiple offers in a matter of days. And I’m not just talking in the affordable price range of $200,000 or under.

Cases in point:

1. A house in Meadow Vista in the $600K range had two offers–one buyer was disappointed.
2. My listing in Ophir, that did not attract an offer in January until the listing price went below $500K.  I received 2 offers the first day after it was relisted at the bank’s countered price of $520,000 (first buyer had to cancel), with two other buyers who were late to the party.
3. Another listing of mine in Ophir received 5 offers the first week, and I receive calls about it almost every day.
4. I listed a house in Wheatland on Saturday morning and had a cash offer by Saturday afternoon.

So what’s going on? In a nutshell, inventory is severely low.

The old rule of Supply and Demand

In September of 2007, during the decline, we had 10 months of inventory! What do you think was happening to home prices? Bingo, they were sliding downward. Now the reverse is true.

The perfect storm.

Sellers, you have a window of opportunity. We have heard the tale of “shadow inventory,” the homes in default that will eventually be hitting the market as bank owned. We have been hearing this for a very long time. If you need to sell, and sell quick, there hasn’t been a better time in a long time, and we don’t know how long this window will stay open.

Upside-down?

If you are upside-down in your home, there are options for you too. As an agent specializing in helping homeowners sell their upside down homes through short sale in Auburn, CA, and Placer County, my team can get your home sold on you on your way to getting back into this great market sooner as opposed to later.

Contact me to learn more about selling your home.

Great Deals on HUD Homes for Sale in Auburn, Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, CA

HUD Owned 1601 Montrose Ln, Lincoln CA - 5 bed 3.5 bath, 3128 SF - $222,000

Great bargains on FHA owned, or HUD Homes, such as this one on Montrose Lane in Lincoln CA, will be hitting the market starting this quarter, and peaking by the end of the year.

An increase in FHA loan defaults will give rise to the release of 178,000 HUD owned properties nationwide. Of those, 40,000 are said to be in the Northern California region, including homes for sale in Auburn, CA, Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Sacramento, and surrounding areas.

What is a HUD home?

A HUD home is a 1-to-4 unit residential property acquired by HUD as a result of a foreclosure action on an FHA-insured mortgage. HUD becomes the property owner and offers it for sale to recover the loss on the foreclosure claim.

Who can buy a HUD home?

Owner occupants and investors can buy HUD homes. Priority is given to owner occupants during the initial listing period.

How can I buy a HUD home?

Only real estate agents with registered brokerages can make offers on HUD homes on behalf of their clients. Contact me if you would like more information on making an offer on a HUD home. The process is quite specific, and you will want an experienced HUD agent on your side.

What about financing?

FHA loans can be used to purchase HUD homes. HUD will pay for a section one pest clearance if the buyer finances using an FHA loan. Some of the benefits of an FHA loan are down payments as low as 3.5% and low closing costs. Buyers must meet loan qualifications. For more information, contact a qualified FHA lender such as Roland Benson at 916-768-1578.

Other types of financing, such as a conventional loan, can also be used to purchase HUD homes, as well as cash.

What is the Neighbor Next Door Program?

HUD’s Good Neighbor Next Door initiative is designed to encourage renewal of revitalization areas by providing law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and teachers an opportunity to purchase homes in these communities. HUD provides a substantial incentive in the form of a fifty percent discount off the list price of eligible properties. Buyer’s paticipating in the Good Neighbor Next Door program must live in the home for 36 months to qualify for the discount.

For more information, visit the Official HUD Website.

When can I buy a home after Bankruptcy, Foreclosure or Short Sale?

Here is a quick guide for required waiting periods after going through Bankruptcy, Foreclosure or Short Sale

The waiting periods for each type of distress situation are dependent upon the type of loan you will be pursuing going forward.

For Conventional Loans:

• Chapter 7 Bankruptcy – 4 year waiting period from the discharge/dismissal date
• Chapter 13 Bankruptcy – 2 year waiting period from the discharge date, or 4 years from the dismissal date
• Multiple Bankruptcies – If within a 7 year period, the waiting period is 5 years from the most recent discharge/dismissal date
• Foreclosure – 7 year waiting period from the completion date
• Deed-In Lieu or Preforeclosure (Short Sale) – Minimum 2 year waiting period

For FHA or VA Loans:

• Chapter 7 Bankruptcy – 2 year waiting period from the discharge/dismissal date
• Chapter 13 Bankruptcy – 1 year of the payout must have elapsed and the borrower’s performance must have been paid as agreed. Document that the borrower’s current situation is not likely to recur. The court must grant permission to the borrower to enter into a mortgage transaction.
• Foreclosure/Preforeclosure (Short Sale) – 3 year waiting period
• VA Loans ONLY – 2 year waiting period on Foreclosures.

Information provided by iMortgage, Roland Benson, 916-746-8412

This information should not be deemed as legal or financial advice. Please consult the appropriate professional to assess your particular situation.

For short sale assistance, contact Noel.

More about short sales…

What goes in your short sale package?

When can I buy after a short sale?

How can I repair my credit after short sale?

Short Sale Basics

Pending Auburn CA home sales up 60%

January brought 60% increase in Auburn CA homes under contract!

According to TrendVision, the Metrolist MLS data reporting tool, January proved to be a month when buyers decided we had hit bottom and it was time to jump into the market.

Of the 223 homes for sale in Auburn, 64 went pending, an increase of 24 units over December,or 60%. Based on this number, the months of inventory will drop from 7.4 months to 3.5 months when the pending sales close. If you apply the law of supply and demand, could this low inventory mean the beginning of a turnaround in the local market? Time will tell.

Though the average price per square foot of sold homes in Auburn CA is down as compared to this time last year, this number has trended up over the past two months, and up 2.6% compared to last month.

Want to know what your house is worth? Submit some basic information below, and you will receive a comparative market analysis in your email box.

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Does it have Mello Roos? Checking assessments for Placer County homes for sale.

You have found the perfect home, and then the question, “Does it have Mello Roos?” rears its ugly head.

Many new homes in the Lincoln CA area, as well as Rocklin CA & Roseville CA, carry Mello Roos assessments which can add upwards of $300 to your monthly payment. So how do you really know if there are Mello Roos assessments affecting the property you are interested in buying? Well, there is one surefire place to find out: the County Tax Assessor’s website!  Here’s what to do:

1. Go to http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Tax/Taxes/TaxBillSearch.aspx
2. Enter the Assessors Parcel Number (APN) into the form (you may need to scroll down a bit to see the box).
3. Voila…the tax bill appears.

On the tax bill you will see various entries including the tax year and if taxes are paid up or not. Toward the bottom of the table is section called  Tax Code. You will see a list of assessments with the amounts broken down for each half of the year when taxes are due. The first entry will be Property Taxes, followed by various school bonds, local assessments, such as mosquito abatement, etc. Any entry that has MR after it is a Mello Roos assessment.

Don’t assume that just because the property is in a Mello Roos-laden area that there are Mello Roos to be paid. A few years ago, as property values began to fall, builders gave incentives to home buyers, one of which was to pay off the Mello Roos bond.

If you need help finding any of this information, or need an assessor’s parcel number for a particular property, ask me. I’m happy to help.